


Through the Mountains

by CatFlorist



Series: SasuSaku Month 2020 [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Fluff, One Shot, SasuSaku Month 2020, secret secret secret secret tunnel yeah, they are cute, they bicker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:40:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25186531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatFlorist/pseuds/CatFlorist
Summary: A rockslide traps Sasuke and Sakura in a maze of tunnels that runs through a mountain range. Legends say the tunnels were built by two lovers to meet in secret, that love finds its way in the dark. When their torch runs out, Sakura has an idea on how to make it out.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke
Series: SasuSaku Month 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823101
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80





	Through the Mountains

**Author's Note:**

> SasuSaku Month 2020, Day 1: Stuck With You

When the rocks finally stopped falling, Sasuke leaned away from Sakura where he had shielded her against the cavern wall. In the dim light of the torch, Sakura and Sasuke assessed their options. Behind them: a barricade of rock that had not existed mere minutes before. And in front of them, two twisting, dark passageways cutting through the mountainside.

“Maybe I can punch through…” Sakura trailed off, eyes following the wall of stone and rubble high above their heads until it disappeared into the dark.

“And start _another_ rockslide?” Sasuke’s scoff reverberated off the cavernous walls. Sakura glowered. He was condescending enough without an echo.

“Well, what do _you_ suggest?” Sakura snapped. “We can’t stay here forever, and we can’t risk losing our way. We have to find a way out.”

The torch in Sasuke’s firm grip cast his face into a mosaic of sharp shadows and soft flesh warmed in the glow of the flame. His eyes hardened, and he said what they were both thinking. “The torch won’t last. The only thing we can do is hope to find the way out.”

The retort on Sakura’s tongue melted away. She knew he was right. The two tunnels loomed before them, filled with darkness.

For a long minute, they listened to the distant sound of dripping water. The echo shimmered in the air, an otherworldly sound that could never occur in places where the sun shone. 

“You choose,” Sasuke said.

* * *

They had been walking for a while before one of them spoke again.

“How were these tunnels even built?” Sakura asked.

With a mild shrug of his shoulders, Sasuke replied, “You’ve heard the legends.”

Sakura frowned. The question was rhetorical, a way to fill the silence. She didn’t expect Sasuke to have such a ready answer. “What legends?”

He dismissed her question. “You’ve heard them before.”

“I don’t think so,” Sakura said. Sasuke halted, and Sakura nearly ran into him.

It turns out these tunnels twisted themselves into a large maze snaking through the mountain range. After every dozen or so minutes of walking, they came upon a new fork in the road and were forced to pick their path. Three new tunnels now awaited their decision.

“Everyone’s heard them.” Sasuke waited for her.

“I’m telling you I haven’t,” Sakura insisted, pointing to the middle tunnel.

When choosing their path, Sasuke always deferred to Sakura, and she picked following some blind instinct. Whether Sakura was leading them further astray or closer to the end of the tunnel, she did not know. Maybe Sasuke didn’t want to take responsibility either way.

As they entered the middle tunnel, Sasuke sighed. “This mountain range separates the Land of Fire from Wind. But long ago, it separated two ancient kingdoms of feuding clans.

“One day, two children from the warring clans crossed paths. Not knowing from where the other hailed, they formed a friendship and began to practice their abilities together. Chakra was still new then.”

Sasuke’s dry storytelling left much to be desired. But Sakura clung to every word.

“As it happens, both individuals had royal blood. They were each set to inherit leadership of their respective clans. But when they discovered their identities, the two were already friends. They met in secret, becoming masters in the use of chakra and inventing many new techniques. Eventually they—” Sasuke made the tiniest pause. “—became lovers,” he finished, with a confusing shift in his expression. Or maybe it was the torchlight.

One part of Sakura almost laughed hearing the word “lovers” coming out of Sasuke’s reluctant mouth. Another part of her was relieved that the darkness of the tunnel hid the unsolicited blush that rose to her cheeks.

“They carved these tunnels through the mountains, so they could meet in secret. The legend states their love helped them find their way through the dark. They tried to mend ties between their clans. But they failed,” Sasuke finished. Sakura didn’t even notice his tone had been thoughtful until it was gone. “It’s said they were buried here. You really haven’t heard this?” he criticized, Sasuke again.

“I didn’t grow up hearing many legends,” Sakura said. Maybe it was yet another flaw of her non-noble bloodline.

“Hm,” Sasuke said.

They kept walking.

* * *

Coming across yet another split path, they rested for the first time.

Neither wanted to admit that they were deep and lost in the mountain.

The torch was dying.

“Can you use your fireball jutsu?” Sakura asked.

“It’s not meant for small scale use. I don’t want to burn up our oxygen. _And_ we need a place for the fire to live,” Sasuke objected, but the bite was gone from his voice.

As the flame sputtered out, Sakura lit her palms with the light of her healing jutsu. Darkness closed in around them, absolutely everywhere, except for Sakura’s dim bubble of hazy green light, which barely allowed her to distinguish Sasuke’s features from the shadows.

It would not work to light their way.

“Maybe there’s one thing we could do,” Sakura said, holding her palms between them, to better illuminate Sasuke’s face in soft green.

“What else is there?” he asked.

“Well…the legend says…the people who built the tunnels were lovers.”

She _felt_ Sasuke’s eyes.

“I mean, um, maybe we could….” Sakura cringed as the words came out. She could not believe what she was proposing. “We could try to—”

“—kiss?” Sasuke interjected, with a disbelieving laugh.

Sakura flushed. She was trying to phrase it in a more delicate way. “Well it’s obviously not _ideal_ , Sasuke, but—”

“It’s a stupid idea.”

“—we might as well try out all of our _options_ ,” Sakura pressed. “Something about this place seems sacred. I think it’s important to respect old legends and—”

“I don’t want to kiss you,” Sasuke said, blunt, as if he hadn’t already implied as much. But his eyebrows were drawn.

“Would kissing me really be that bad?” Sakura tried not to feel hurt, but she dropped her hands to her side, snatching away the light on his face. “Fine. Forget I said anything.” Sakura fumed. Of all the people with whom she might be trapped in the middle of a mountain, why did it have to be _him_?

In the dim, they breathed.

Sasuke sighed, “Sakura.”

She responded with an angry huff.

Sasuke’s fingers encircled her wrist, stayed there. Sakura could not recall if he had ever touched her with such gentleness.

It was an apology.

Sakura’s anger went out like a soft breath to a flame.

“I’m sorry about what I said,” she mumbled to the ground. “But we're friends, Sasuke. You don’t need to push me away all the time.”

Sasuke tilted her chin up.

He kissed her, his mouth fitting so perfectly around her bottom lip.

Sakura was all instinct. Like Sasuke moving to shield her from the rockslide, like choosing the right path, like eyes blinking shut in the face of a kiss, Sakura’s hands and body moved to find the parts of him that she had always wanted to touch. She stepped forward until their stomachs pressed together. She traced his cheekbone under her thumb, discovered the small of his back down at the base of his spine. Sasuke placed soft kisses on her lips, again and again.

They weren’t thinking about legends. They kissed because it was something they should have done a long time ago, in the sunlight.

Sasuke’s hand fell away from under her chin, and they moved apart to look at each other. Sakura opened her eyes. Sasuke’s lips were still parted, and the angles and planes of his face had gone soft.

Sakura could _see_ him. She could see the texture of the rock walls around them, their abandoned torch. Sasuke removed her hand still touching his cheek and inspected her palm. The light of her healing chakra was gone.

As if in one body, they looked up.

Constellations winked down at them in the night sky—wait.

Thousands of rough jewels adorned the ceiling of the cavern, activated by the complete absence of light, glinting like stars. The shards ran like a current down one of the tunnels before them, leaving the two others in darkness.

By some luck, Sakura had led them down the right path all along.

“It’s beautiful,” Sakura said, voice hushed in awe.

Sasuke was no longer looking at the ceiling. He repeated quietly, “Beautiful.”

“Should we go?” Sakura asked. They were still holding each other.

He told her, “You lead the way.”

.

.

.

.

**Author's Note:**

> slowly making my way through SasuSaku Month prompts! Thank you for reading!! I really enjoyed writing this one. I also plan to post these on my new tumblr, catflorist.


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